Misplaced Pages

#521478

147-775: Planescape is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game , designed by Zeb Cook , and published by TSR in 1994. Planescape encompasses numerous planes of existence , creating an entire cosmology called the Great Wheel, which was originally developed in the 1987 Manual of the Planes by Jeff Grubb . This includes many of the other Dungeons & Dragons worlds, linking them via inter-dimensional magical portals. The Dungeons & Dragons cosmology as reflected in Planescape consists of

294-468: A Dungeon Master's Kit (2010) that included a digest-sized book for the Dungeon Master containing much of the same material as the 4th edition Dungeon Master's Guide along with a two-part adventure module and a set of cardboard tokens for monsters. The 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide was released in 2014 as the last of three core rulebooks for the new edition. On

441-513: A military formation . These characters embark upon adventures within a fantasy setting. A Dungeon Master (DM) serves as referee and storyteller for the game, while maintaining the setting in which the adventures occur, and playing the role of the inhabitants of the game world, known as non-player characters (NPCs). The characters form a party and they interact with the setting's inhabitants and each other. Together they solve problems, engage in battles, explore, and gather treasure and knowledge. In

588-402: A "new style for adventure encounters" and a "skill challenge system" which were part of the key design philosophies of 4th edition. Appelcline wrote "besides revamping philosophies and rules, D&D 4e also revamped the game's standard world model and its cosmology" and "Wizards also introduced a new world setting that has become most popularly known as 'Nentir Vale' (though that just designates

735-473: A "strong impact" though he also said that the list of other influential authors was long. The D&D magic system, in which wizards memorize spells that are used up once cast and must be re-memorized the next day, was heavily influenced by the Dying Earth stories and novels of Jack Vance . The original alignment system (which grouped all characters and creatures into 'Law', 'Neutrality' and 'Chaos')

882-539: A Roleplaying Game, Adventure, or Supplement . The setting was featured in the computer game Planescape: Torment , which portrayed the Planescape world (specifically Sigil, the Outlands , Baator , Carceri , and the Negative Energy Plane ). It is now a cult game and was out of print until its DVD re-release as a budget title in 2009. It was released as a download on GOG.com in 2010 and soon became

1029-518: A better play experience than under the 3rd Edition. The new game was developed through a number of design phases spanning from May 2005 until its release. Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition was announced at Gen Con in August 2007, and the initial three core books were released June 6, 2008. 4th Edition streamlined the game into a simplified form and introduced numerous rules changes. Many character abilities were restructured into "Powers". These altered

1176-475: A catalogue or encyclopedia of rules information, a reference book for DMs. With the demise of the adventure game (which had stopped printing long before we started on 3.5), we needed to focus the 3.5 books much more on introducing the game to players. That meant reorganizing the DMG in particular. Several years of published books that referred to pages and chapters in the DMG meant we could only reorganize so much, but

1323-576: A fantasy supplement, before the game was published as Chainmail . When Dave Wesely entered the Army in 1970, his friend and fellow Napoleonics wargamer Dave Arneson began a medieval variation of Wesely's Braunstein games, where players control individuals instead of armies. Arneson used Chainmail to resolve combat. As play progressed, Arneson added such innovations as character classes, experience points, level advancement, armor class, and others. Having partnered previously with Gygax on Don't Give Up

1470-419: A full-fledged campaign setting , and so in 1994 Planescape was released. David "Zeb" Cook developed Planescape when he was assigned to create "a complete campaign world (not just a place to visit), survivable by low-level characters, as compatible with the old Manual of the Planes as possible, filled with a feeling of vastness without overwhelming the referee, distinct from all other TSR campaigns, free of

1617-481: A game often driven by much more simplistic mechanism. The greatest commerce isn't loot, treasure, magic items, etc.; it is belief so strong it can shape reality". In a review of The Great Modron March , Backstab magazine contributor Philippe Tessier called the presentation of Planescape products superb in general. In his 2023 book Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground , RPG historian Stu Horvath noted, "If there

SECTION 10

#1732765738522

1764-404: A grid map as a visual aid if desired, particularly during combat. Some editions of the game presume such usage. Many optional accessories are available to enhance the game, such as expansion rulebooks, pre-designed adventures, and various campaign settings . Before the game begins, each player creates their player character and records the details (described below) on a character sheet. First,

1911-520: A group of adventurers (the players' characters), intervened. Sects are in many ways identical to the Factions, differing in that they are not based in Sigil. Sects are often highly specific to the particular planes they originate from, though historically many of the Factions were once Sects and some Sects were once Factions. There are three principles (or heuristics ) governing the world of Planescape:

2058-462: A guide of advice for Dungeon Masters as a manual of specific information." The 3rd edition D&D Dungeon Master's Guide was published in September 2000. Monte Cook , Jonathan Tweet , and Skip Williams all contributed to the 3rd edition Player's Handbook , Dungeon Master's Guide , and Monster Manual , and then each designer wrote one of the books based on those contributions. Cook

2205-428: A healthy seller for TSR. In the 1980s, the rules for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and "basic" Dungeons & Dragons remained separate, each developing along different paths. In 1981, the basic version of Dungeons & Dragons was revised by Tom Moldvay to make it even more novice-friendly. It was promoted as a continuation of the original D&D tone, whereas AD&D was promoted as an advancement of

2352-440: A horror game." That's where the DMG comes in, it's for really fine-tuning your campaign, and creating a different type of experience than your standard fantasy campaign. It's also for expanding the scope of the game. [...] The DMG also has a lot of utilities in it, like for dungeon creation, adventure creation, creating monsters, creating spells, even if you wanted to create a character class. [...] So it's really for getting under

2499-408: A lock, are determined by rolling dice. Different polyhedral dice are used for different actions. For example, a twenty-sided die is used to determine whether a hit is made in combat, with other dice such as four, six, eight, ten, or even twelve-sided die used to determine how much damage was dealt. Factors contributing to the outcome include the character's ability scores, skills, and the difficulty of

2646-603: A loose-leaf binder that was subsequently replaced by the hardcover Monstrous Manual in 1993. In 1995, the core rulebooks were slightly revised, although still referred to by TSR as the 2nd Edition, and a series of Player's Option manuals were released as optional rulebooks. The release of AD&D 2nd Edition deliberately excluded some aspects of the game that had attracted negative publicity. References to demons and devils, sexually suggestive artwork, and playable, evil-aligned character types – such as assassins and half-orcs – were removed. The edition moved away from

2793-418: A measure of a character's vitality and health and are determined by the class, level and Constitution of each character. They can be temporarily lost when a character sustains wounds in combat or otherwise comes to harm, and loss of HP is the most common way for a character to die in the game. Death can also result from the loss of key ability scores or character levels. When a PC dies, it is often possible for

2940-522: A more general audience of college and high school students. Roughly 1,000 copies of the game were sold in the first year, followed by 3,000 in 1975, and many more in the following years. This first set went through many printings and was supplemented with several official additions, such as the original Greyhawk and Blackmoor supplements (both 1975), as well as magazine articles in TSR's official publications and many fanzines . In early 1977, TSR created

3087-558: A near-bankrupt TSR was purchased by Wizards of the Coast . Following three years of development, Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition was released in 2000. The new release folded the Basic and Advanced lines back into a single unified game. It was the largest revision of the D&;D rules to date and served as the basis for a multi-genre role-playing system designed around 20-sided dice, called

SECTION 20

#1732765738522

3234-451: A number of planes, which can be divided into the following regions: Planescape "solidified the Great Wheel cosmology that began in 1e and would later be reinstated in 5e as the dominant of three theoretical models". The Outer Planes consist of: the Abyss, Acheron, Arborea, Arcadia, Baator, Beastlands, Bytopia, Carceri, Elysium, Gehenna, Gray Waste of Hades, Limbo, Mechanus, Mount Celestia,

3381-467: A player determines their character's ability scores , which consist of Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. Each edition of the game has offered differing methods of determining these scores. The player then chooses a species (such as a dwarf, elf, or human – called "race" prior to 5e 2024), a character class (such as a fighter, rogue, or wizard), an alignment (a moral and ethical outlook), and other features to round out

3528-413: A prison of sorts for those not possessing a portal key. Thus, many call Sigil "The Bird Cage" or "The Cage". Though Sigil is commonly held to be located "at the center of the planes" (where it is positioned atop the infinitely tall Spire), some argue that this is impossible since the planes are infinite in all dimensions, and therefore there can never truly be a center to any or all of them. Curiously, from

3675-716: A response which walked back several changes to the OGL; this response did not contain the updated OGL. The Motley Fool highlighted that "Hasbro pulled an abrupt volte-face and had its subsidiary D&D Beyond publish a mea culpa on its website". On January 27, 2023, following feedback received during the open comment period for the draft OGL1.2, Wizards of the Coast announced that the System Reference Document 5.1 (SRD 5.1) would be released under an irrevocable Creative Commons license ( CC BY 4.0 ) effective immediately and Wizards would no longer pursue deauthorizing

3822-463: A sample town and short adventure so that DMs can start running their first 4th Edition adventure right away. Although it does contain artifacts, it is the first Dungeon Master's Guide not to contain standard magic items, which were moved into the Player's Handbook for 4th Edition. Shannon Appelcline , author of Designers & Dragons , highlighted that the book introduced mechanical changes such as

3969-464: A series of meetings to complete a single adventure , and longer into a series of related gaming adventures, called a " campaign ". The results of the party's choices and the overall storyline for the game are determined by the DM according to the rules of the game and the DM's interpretation of those rules. The DM selects and describes the various non-player characters (NPCs) that the party encounters,

4116-461: A small part of the world)". In September 2009, the Dungeon Master's Guide 2 was released. It was written by James Wyatt, with Bill Slavicsek , Mike Mearls , and Robin D. Laws . Appelcline wrote "the original Dungeon Master's Guide had covered heroic adventuring (levels 1-10), so now the Dungeon Master's Guide 2 detailed paragon adventuring (levels 11-20). However, there is much more in

4263-417: A task such as picking a lock, deactivating a trap, or pushing a boulder, a Difficulty Class must be hit or exceeded. Relevant ability bonuses are added to help players succeed. As the game is played, each PC changes over time and generally increases in capability. Characters gain (or sometimes lose) experience, skills and wealth, and may even alter their alignment or gain additional character classes, which

4410-653: A theme of 1960s and 1970s " sword and sorcery " fantasy fiction to a mixture of medieval history and mythology. The rules underwent minor changes, including the addition of non-weapon proficiencies – skill-like abilities that appear in first edition supplements. The game's magic spells are divided into schools and spheres. A major difference was the promotion of various game settings beyond that of traditional fantasy. This included blending fantasy with other genres, such as horror (Ravenloft), science fiction (Spelljammer), and apocalyptic (Dark Sun), as well as alternative historical and non-European mythological settings. In 1997,

4557-568: A unique blending of these elements. The world of D&D was influenced by world mythology, history, pulp fiction , and contemporary fantasy novels, as listed by Gygax in the Appendix N of the original Dungeon Master's Guide . The importance of Tolkien's works The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit as an influence on D&D is controversial. The presence in the game of halflings , elves , half-elves , dwarves , orcs , rangers , and

Planescape - Misplaced Pages Continue

4704-549: Is "part of Wizards' plans to apply more resources to the digital side of D&D" following the purchase of D&D Beyond by Hasbro earlier in the year. Wizards of the Coast CEO Cynthia Williams and Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks, at a December 2022 Hasbro investor-focused web seminar, called the Dungeons & Dragons brand "under monetized". They highlighted the high engagement of fans with the brand, however,

4851-504: Is "the finest game world ever produced for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons ". Haring described the writing as "wonderful", also saying that it "has got one of the most distinctive graphic looks I've seen in any game product" and that the "unusual drawings remind [him] a little of Dr. Seuss ". Trenton Webb of British RPG magazine Arcane called Planescape "the premier AD&D world", noting its hallmark as "a bizarre juxtaposition of legend and nightmare". Game designer Rick Swan said that

4998-472: Is a problem with Planescape , it would be its vast strangeness. There's a lot to explain and not nearly enough space to fit it all in." However, Horvath lauded the artwork, saying, "The art picks up where the words leave off. Planescape is the apex of the aesthetic-driven, high-concept Dungeons & Dragons setting. Dana Knutson developed all of the concept artwork for the setting, which Robh Ruppel turned into covers, and Tony DiTerlizzi used to fill out

5145-487: Is a structured yet open-ended role-playing game. It is normally played indoors with the participants seated around a tabletop. Typically, one player takes on the role of Dungeon Master (DM) while the others each control a single character, representing an individual in a fictional setting. When working together as a group, the player characters (PCs) are often described as a " party " of adventurers, with each member often having their own area of specialty that contributes to

5292-510: Is an expansion of ideas presented in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide (First Edition) and the original Manual of the Planes . When Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition was published, a decision was made not to include angelic or demonic creatures, and so the cosmology was largely ignored. However, fan demand for a 2nd Edition Manual of the Planes was strong enough to justify its expansion into

5439-486: Is called "Multiclassing" . The key way characters progress is by earning experience points (XP), which happens when they defeat an enemy or accomplish a difficult task. Acquiring enough XP allows a PC to advance a level , which grants the character improved class features, abilities and skills. XP can be lost in some circumstances, such as encounters with creatures that drain life energy, or by use of certain magical powers that come with an XP cost. Hit points (HP) are

5586-542: Is credited with increasing the market share of d20 products and leading to a "boom in the RPG industry in the early 2000s". With the release of the 4th Edition , Wizards of the Coast introduced its Game System License , which represented a significant restriction compared to the very open policies embodied by the OGL. In part as a response to this, some publishers (such as Paizo Publishing with its Pathfinder Roleplaying Game ) who previously produced materials in support of

5733-525: Is credited with the book's design. Cover art is by Henry Higginbotham , with interior art by Lars Grant-West , Scott Fischer , John Foster , Todd Lockwood , David Martin , Arnie Swekel , Kevin Walker , Sam Wood , and Wayne Reynolds . Dungeon Master's Guide was republished in 2001 as a slightly revised edition, correcting a few errors in the first edition. In 2003, the Dungeon Master's Guide

5880-500: Is nowhere more obvious than amongst the flavor filled side panels, which further detail the lower magical level of the main setting, before explaining all of the variable options a DM has in bringing to life a world of their own." In a review of Dungeon Master's Guide in Black Gate , Scott Taylor said "The 5E DMG devotes the first 127 pages to teaching a novice player how to [be] a Dungeon Master in this system. Where Gygax made

6027-454: Is the FRP game played most often in most places." In the 1980 book The Complete Book of Wargames , game designer Jon Freeman asked, "What can be said about a phenomenon? Aside from Tactics II and possibly PanzerBlitz (the first modern tactical wargame), this is the most significant war game since H.G. Wells ." However, Freeman did have significant issues with the game, pointing out, "On

Planescape - Misplaced Pages Continue

6174-461: The One D&;D initiative which includes a public playtest of the next version of Dungeons & Dragons and an upcoming virtual tabletop simulator with 3D environments developed using Unreal Engine . Revised editions of the Player's Handbook , Monster Manual , and Dungeon Master's Guide are scheduled to be released in 2024. In April 2022, Hasbro announced that Wizards would acquire

6321-491: The Planes of Conflict (by McComb and Dale Donovan ). From 1994 to 1998, " Planescape was a major setting" for Dungeons & Dragons . The setting also had a small number of novels. Upon the release of 3rd Edition, Planescape, along with most other settings, were discontinued, although fan sites such as planewalker.com were allowed to continue to use the material and update it to the new edition. The 3rd Edition Manual of

6468-619: The Player's Handbook , which contains all of the basic rules of gameplay, and the Monster Manual , which is a reference book of statistics for various animals and monsters . The Player's Handbook , Dungeon Master's Guide , and Monster Manual are collectively referred to as the "core rules" of the Dungeons & Dragons game. Both the Dungeon Master's Guide and the Player's Handbook give advice, tips, and suggestions for various styles of play. While all players, including

6615-449: The D&D product line, decided to continue supporting the 3rd Edition rules, thereby competing directly with Wizards of the Coast. Others, such as Kenzer & Company , returned to the practice of publishing unlicensed supplements and arguing that copyright law does not allow Wizards of the Coast to restrict third-party usage. During the 2000s, there has been a trend towards reviving and recreating older editions of D&D , known as

6762-650: The D&D Beyond digital toolset and game companion from Fandom ; the official transfer to Wizards occurred in May 2022. At the Hasbro Investor Event in October 2022, it was announced that Dan Rawson, former COO of Microsoft Dynamics 365 , was appointed to the newly created position of Senior Vice President for the Dungeons & Dragons brand; Rawson will act as the new head of the franchise. Chase Carter of Dicebreaker highlighted that Rawson's role

6909-502: The DMG , the DMG just confirmed what we already knew D&D 5th Edition to be. This is a living history of D&D , a collection of what the game has been so far. Perfection, not innovation. Options, not prescriptions". Chuck Francisco of mania.com commented: "Miles of treasure tables escort a wealth of random adventure tables to the ball, where they're resplendent in all of their easy session crafting majesty. The versatility of this tome

7056-539: The Dungeon Master Guide , with new art and layout but the same text, was released in 1995, as part of TSR's 25th anniversary. The 2nd edition Dungeon Master Guide was reproduced as a premium reprint on May 21, 2013. Stephan Wieck reviewed the 2nd Edition Dungeon Master's Guide in White Wolf #17 (1989) and stated that "There are no great changes to the DMG, except that it has become as much

7203-556: The Los Angeles Times , wrote, "players and scholars attribute the game's resurgent popularity not only to the longueurs of the pandemic, but also to its reemergence in pop culture—on the Netflix series Stranger Things , whose main characters play D&D in a basement; on the sitcom The Big Bang Theory ; or via the host of celebrities who display their love for the game online". Following an apology issued by Wizards of

7350-481: The Old School Revival . This, in turn, inspired the creation of "retro-clones" , games that more closely recreate the original rule sets, using material placed under the OGL along with non-copyrightable mechanical aspects of the older rules to create a new presentation of the games. Alongside the publication of the 5th Edition, Wizards of the Coast established a two-pronged licensing approach. The core of

7497-482: The alignment rules, new rules for money and equipment, treasure and magical items, encounters, time and movement, and managing non-player characters. The book is indexed, and contains numerous full-page color illustrations. The second edition Dungeon Master Guide is an ORIGINS and Gamer's Choice award-winner. In his 1991 book Heroic Worlds , Lawrence Schick commented that this book contained "lots of excellent new advice on how to run AD&D ". A new version of

SECTION 50

#1732765738522

7644-438: The d20 System . The 3rd Edition rules were designed to be internally consistent and less restrictive than previous editions of the game, allowing players more flexibility to create the characters they wanted to play. Skills and feats were introduced into the core rules to encourage further customization of characters. The new rules standardized the mechanics of action resolution and combat. In 2003, Dungeons & Dragons v.3.5

7791-401: The "core rulebooks", were released: the Player's Handbook (PHB), the Dungeon Master's Guide (DMG), and the Monster Manual (MM). Several supplementary books were published throughout the 1980s, notably Unearthed Arcana (1985), which included a large number of new rules. Confusing matters further, the original D&D boxed set remained in publication until 1979, since it remained

7938-612: The "second most wanted game" on the site. An enhanced edition by Beamdog was released on April 11, 2017. Marketed as a spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment , Torment: Tides of Numenera was released in February 2017. The game takes inspiration from the previous game but is not itself based in the Planescape setting. TSR published a collectible card game based on the Planescape setting called Blood Wars . The game featured major locations, personalities, and features of

8085-460: The 2024 core books are, uh, 'solid', according to the CEO, it's evident that Hasbro holds little faith in analog games clotting the money bleed elsewhere in the company's structure". Early in the game's history, TSR took no action against small publishers' production of D&D compatible material and even licensed Judges Guild to produce D&D materials for several years, such as City State of

8232-514: The 25 mm scale. Periodically, Dungeons & Dragons has returned to its wargaming roots with supplementary rules systems for miniatures-based wargaming. Supplements such as Battlesystem (1985 and 1989) and a new edition of Chainmail (2001) provided rule systems to handle battles between armies by using miniatures. An immediate predecessor of Dungeons & Dragons was a set of medieval miniature rules written by Jeff Perren . These were expanded by Gary Gygax , whose additions included

8379-458: The 3e era", it "was faring better in 4e, despite the large-scale restructuring of D&D's cosmology" due to small inclusions in the Dungeon Master's Guide (2008) and Manual of the Planes . Appelcline highlighted that it was the 4th Edition Dungeon Master's Guide 2 which "saw the return of the fan-favorite setting of Sigil" which "was laid out as a full paragon-level setting. There's not much new here for old-time fans of Planescape , but there

8526-650: The 5th Edition Dungeon Master's Guide (2014). In July 2022, Unearthed Arcana: Wonders of the Multiverse was released as part of the Unearthed Arcana public playtest series for the 5th Edition. Both Polygon and ComicBook.com highlighted that the new character race – the Glitchling – and other references to the Planescape setting might indicate a reboot of the setting for 5th Edition. Charlie Hall, for Polygon , commented that "this wouldn't be

8673-569: The 5th Edition rules have been made available under the OGL, while publishers and independent creators have also been given the opportunity to create licensed materials directly for Dungeons & Dragons and associated properties like the Forgotten Realms under a program called the DM's Guild . The DM's Guild does not function under the OGL, but uses a community agreement intended to foster liberal cooperation among content creators. Wizards of

8820-545: The Coast , later a subsidiary of Hasbro , since 1997. The game was derived from miniature wargames , with a variation of the 1971 game Chainmail serving as the initial rule system. D&D 's publication is commonly recognized as the beginning of modern role-playing games and the role-playing game industry, which also deeply influenced video games , especially the role-playing video game genre. D&D departs from traditional wargaming by allowing each player to create their own character to play instead of

8967-507: The Coast announced that it was working on a 5th edition of the game. The company planned to take suggestions from players and let them playtest the rules. Public playtesting began on May 24, 2012. At Gen Con 2012 in August, Mike Mearls , lead developer for 5th Edition, said that Wizards of the Coast had received feedback from more than 75,000 playtesters, but that the entire development process would take two years, adding, "I can't emphasize this enough ... we're very serious about taking

SECTION 60

#1732765738522

9114-733: The Coast for offensive and racist material included in Spelljammer: Adventures in Space and the announced revisions to the product in September 2022, Christopher Perkins – Wizards' game design architect – announced a new inclusion review process for the Dungeons & Dragons studio in November 2022. This process will now require "every word, illustration, and map" to be reviewed at several steps in development "by multiple outside cultural consultants prior to publication". The previous process only included cultural consultants at

9261-636: The Coast has started to release 5th Edition products that tie into other intellectual properties—such as Magic: The Gathering with the Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica (2018) and Mythic Odysseys of Theros (2020) source books. Two 5th Edition starter box sets based on TV shows, Stranger Things and Rick and Morty , were released in 2019. Source books based on Dungeons & Dragons live play series have also been released: Acquisitions Incorporated (2019) and Explorer's Guide to Wildemount (2020). Between November and December 2022, there

9408-565: The Content Marketing Institute's 2019 award for best "In-Person (Event) Content Marketing Strategy". Dungeons & Dragons continued to have a strong presence on Twitch throughout 2019; this included a growing number of celebrity players and dungeon masters, such as Joe Manganiello , Deborah Ann Woll and Stephen Colbert . Wizards of the Coast has created, produced and sponsored multiple web series featuring Dungeons & Dragons . These shows have typically aired on

9555-418: The Dungeon Master, are expected to have at their disposal a copy of the Player's Handbook , only the Dungeon Master is expected to refer to the Dungeon Master's Guide or Monster Manual during gameplay. The original AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide (sic) was published by TSR in 1979. It was written by Gary Gygax and published as a 232-page hardcover with a cover by David C. Sutherland III . The book

9702-440: The Ground , RPG historian Stu Horvath noted, "The Dungeon Master's Guide is strange and deeply idiosyncratic. Without a doubt, I believe it's also a masterpiece. Gygax expresses in it a singular vision that feels true in a way few other RPG books can ever hope to equal — it is an accidental portrait of the man's brain circa 1978." The AD&D 2nd Edition Dungeon Master Guide was released in 1989. This 192-page hardcover book

9849-580: The Invincible Overlord . This attitude changed in the mid-1980s when TSR took legal action to try to prevent others from publishing compatible material. This angered many fans and led to resentment by the other gaming companies. Although TSR took legal action against several publishers in an attempt to restrict third-party usage, it never brought any court cases to completion, instead settling out of court in every instance. TSR itself ran afoul of intellectual property law in several cases. With

9996-640: The Lady of Pain. I'm very fond of the Lady of Pain; she really locks up the Planescape look. We all liked her so much that she became our logo". The Planescape Campaign Setting was released, for AD&D 2nd Edition, in April 1994. The campaign setting was followed by a series of expansions detailing the Planes of Chaos (by Wolfgang Baur and Lester W. Smith ), the Planes of Law (by Colin McComb and Baur), and

10143-543: The OGL1.0a. Eric Goldberg reviewed Dungeons & Dragons in Ares Magazine #1 (March 1980), rating it a 6 out of 9, and commented that " Dungeons and Dragons is an impressive achievement based on the concept alone, and also must be credited with cementing the marriage between the fantasy genre and gaming." Eric Goldberg again reviewed Dungeons & Dragons in Ares Magazine #3 and commented that " D&D

10290-543: The Outlands, Pandemonium, and Ysgard. Sigil , the "City of Doors", is located atop the Spire in the Outlands . It has the shape of a torus , and the city itself is located on the inner surface of the ring. There is no sky, simply an all-pervasive light that waxes and wanes to create day and night. Sigil cannot be entered or exited save via portals. Although this makes it quite safe from any would-be invader, it also makes it

10437-529: The Outlands, one can see Sigil atop the supposedly infinite Spire. Within Sigil there are philosophy-derived factions. Before the event known as the Faction War , the groups controlled the political climate of Sigil. Each of these factions is based on one particular belief system; one faction's beliefs make them enemies while others make them allies. There are fifteen factions in total. In 1998, TSR published Faction War , an adventure that effectively closed

10584-563: The Planes (2001), the 3.5 Edition Dungeon Master's Guide (2003), and the Planar Handbook (2004) also used the general layout of the planes and some of the details from the setting, including Sigil, but these are not part of the Planescape line. Sigil is described in the 4th edition Manual of the Planes (2008) and expanded upon in Dungeon Master's Guide 2 (2009). Shannon Appelcline, author of Designers & Dragons , commented that while Sigil "had been largely ignored during

10731-478: The Planescape setting and also introduced new creatures that were added to the role playing game setting as part of subsequent products. Dungeons %26 Dragons Dungeons & Dragons (commonly abbreviated as D&D or DnD ) is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson . The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules (TSR). It has been published by Wizards of

10878-567: The Rule-of-Three above) is the Center of All, and states that there is a center of everything—or, rather, wherever a person happens to be is the center of the multiverse... From their own perspective, at least. As most planes are functionally infinite, disproving anyone's centricity would be impossible. In Planescape , this is meant philosophically just as much as it is meant in terms of multiversal geography. The fact that anywhere could be

11025-478: The Rule-of-Three, the Unity of Rings, and the Center of the Multiverse. The first principle, the Rule-of-Three, says simply that things tend to happen in threes. The principles which govern the planes are themselves subject to this rule. The second principle is the Unity of Rings, and notes that many things on the planes are circular, coming back around to where they started. The third principle (fitting neatly into

11172-521: The Ship! , Arneson introduced Gygax to his Blackmoor game and the two then collaborated on developing "The Fantasy Game", the game that became Dungeons & Dragons , with the final writing and preparation of the text being done by Gygax. The name was chosen by Gygax's two-year-old daughter Cindy; upon being presented with a number of choices of possible names, she exclaimed, "Oh Daddy, I like Dungeons & Dragons best!", although less prevalent versions of

11319-531: The activity in Sigil would revolve around factions , each of which would be built upon ideas taken to their extreme. He also felt that Sigil was necessary as a crossroads for the planes and a campaign center which could be both an adventure location itself and somewhere to hide out, which characters could quickly get to and from. Cook decided to adapt the Manual of the Planes because the older material made survival on

11466-569: The age range of 25–34 and 26% of players are aged 35+. In January 2021, the Los Angeles Times reported that according to Liz Schuh, head of publishing and licensing for Dungeons & Dragons, "revenue was up 35% in 2020 compared with 2019, the seventh consecutive year of growth," and in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic , "virtual play rose 86% [...] aided by online platforms such as Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds ". Sarah Parvini, for

11613-625: The back cover illustration is by Brian Hagan , with interior illustrations by Rob Alexander, Steve Argyle , Wayne England , Jason Engle , David Griffith , Espen Grundetjern, Brian Hagan, Ralph Horsley , Howard Lyon , Lee Moyer , William O'Connor , Wayne Reynolds , Dan Scott, Ron Spears, Chris Stevens, Anne Stokes , and Eva Widermann . In addition to a comprehensive look at how to DM a 4th Edition campaign or adventure, it contains information on building encounters, aquatic and mounted combat, skill challenges, traps and hazards, rewards, NPC creation, artifacts, monster creation, and template, along with

11760-482: The basic game includes many rules and concepts which contradicted comparable ones in AD&;D . John Eric Holmes , the editor of the basic game, preferred a lighter tone with more room for personal improvisation. AD&D , on the other hand, was designed to create a tighter, more structured game system than the loose framework of the original game. Between 1977 and 1979, three hardcover rulebooks, commonly referred to as

11907-560: The basic monsters and creatures of the game. New magic items were introduced. The Dungeon Masters Guide contains scores of tables and charts for figuring damage and resolving encounters in a typical adventure, tables and rules for creating characters, and lists of the various abilities of the different classes of characters. One supplement to the Guide was the Dungeon Masters Screen : two heavy-duty tri-fold boards with

12054-530: The best-known, and best-selling, role-playing game in the US, with an estimated 20 million people having played the game and more than US$ 1 billion in book and equipment sales worldwide. The year 2017 had "the most number of players in its history—12 million to 15 million in North America alone". D&D 5th edition sales "were up 41 percent in 2017 from the year before, and soared another 52 percent in 2018,

12201-549: The book Dread Trident: Tabletop Role-Playing Games and the Modern Fantastic , wrote: "Planescape's sophistication marked it as D&D's answer to its own simplistic medieval-European-inspired fantasy settings, [...]. Planescape channeled the Weird before China Miéville brought the 'new weird' genre into focus [...]. With Planescape, we have an attempt by an AD&D game setting to add layers of intellectual complexity to

12348-511: The book on Planescape, as it was then ending the product line. The culmination of several adventures leading up to that point, the Faction War brought an end to the factions' control of the city. Instigated by the power-hungry Duke Rowan Darkwood, factol of the Fated, in a bid to dethrone the Lady and rule Sigil himself, the war spread throughout the city before the Lady of Pain, with the aid of

12495-553: The book too, including storytelling advice, skill challenge and monster customization, and the return of one of D&D's most beloved settings". The "fan-favorite setting of Sigil" was last revisited in depth in the Planescape Campaign Setting (1994) for the 2nd edition. As part of the Essentials line of products, which were intended as an easy entry point for new players, Wizards of the Coast released

12642-451: The center of the multiverse in this view also implies that nowhere can be said to be the only absolute true center. This sparks a lot of arguments and violence since some people believe the City of Doors to be the center due to its uncommon number of portals to other planes and position in the Outlands and some factions also claim different centers, each with their own significance. Planescape

12789-420: The changes from the previous Dungeon Master's Guide , Rich Redman said: I think the most immediate, obvious, and dramatic change is the reorganization. When the 3rd Edition books came out, the adventure game was supposed to teach you about D&D (including both playing and DMing) and the adventure path modules were supposed to help you learn more about DMing. That meant that the DMG could be, more or less,

12936-409: The character's abilities and backstory, which have varied in nature through differing editions. During the game, players describe their PCs' intended actions to the DM, who then describes the result or response. Trivial actions, such as picking up a letter or opening an unlocked door, are usually automatically successful. The outcomes of more complex or risky actions, such as scaling a cliff or picking

13083-408: The copies I've seen stayed pretty close to the way I reorganized it. The D&D Dungeon Master's Guide (v3.5) was reproduced as a premium reprint on September 18, 2012. The 4th edition D&D Dungeon Master's Guide was released on June 6, 2008, at the same time as its companion volumes. It is a 224-page hardcover written by James Wyatt . The front cover illustration was by Wayne Reynolds and

13230-410: The dead character to be resurrected through magic, although some penalties may be imposed as a result. If resurrection is not possible or not desired, the player may instead create a new PC to resume playing the game. A typical Dungeons & Dragons game consists of an "adventure", which is roughly equivalent to a single story or quest. The DM can either design an original adventure or follow one of

13377-412: The densest of the rulebooks yet released, but shares the same cover price — $ 50 in the US". In an interview with Escapist Magazine , Mearls said: Basic D&D hits core fantasy, it's stereotypical fantasy adventuring. If you're the DM and you want to do something more exotic, you say "I want to add technology to my game" or "I want to have more detailed rules for a grim and grittier game, more of

13524-421: The details from a leaked full copy of the OGL 1.1 including updated terms such as no longer authorizing use of the OGL1.0. Codega highlighted that "if the original license is in fact no longer viable, every single licensed publisher will be affected by the new agreement. [...] The main takeaway from the leaked OGL 1.1 draft document is that WotC is keeping power close at hand". A week after the leak, Wizards issued

13671-415: The different editions. The original Dungeons & Dragons , now referred to as OD&D , is a small box set of three booklets published in 1974. With a very limited production budget of only $ 2000—with only $ 100 budgeted for artwork —it is amateurish in production and assumes the player is familiar with wargaming. Nevertheless, it grew rapidly in popularity, first among wargamers and then expanding to

13818-437: The discretion of the product lead for a project. All products being reprinted will also go through this new review process and be updated as needed. In September 2021, it was announced that a backwards compatible "evolution" of 5th edition would be released in 2024 to mark the 50th anniversary of the game. In August 2022, Wizards announced that the next phase of major changes for Dungeons & Dragons would occur under

13965-524: The edition numbering from AD&D ; a revised version 3.5 was released in June 2003. These 3rd edition rules formed the basis of the d20 System , which is available under the Open Game License (OGL) for use by other publishers. D&D 4th edition was released in June 2008. The 5th edition of D&D , the most recent, was released during the second half of 2014. In 2004, D&D remained

14112-420: The first edition Dungeon Masters Guide was the random dungeon generator. The generator allowed the Dungeon Master, by the rolling of dice , to generate a dungeon adventure "on the fly". A dungeon complete with passageways , rooms , treasure , monsters, and other encounters could easily and randomly be constructed as the player progressed. It could be used with several people or a single player. The generator

14259-419: The first element of a two-pronged strategy that would divide D&D for nearly two decades. A Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set boxed edition was introduced that cleaned up the presentation of the essential rules, makes the system understandable to the general public, and was sold in a package that could be stocked in toy stores. Later in 1977, the first part of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons ( AD&D )

14406-407: The first time that Wizards used playtest materials to tease a reboot of a classic setting". Christian Hoffer, for ComicBook.com , wrote that "while described as a collection of material from around the Multiverse, many Dungeons & Dragons fans noticed that it contained multiple references to Mechanus, Sigil, the Outlands, and other areas explored in the popular Planescape setting. [...] Based on

14553-633: The foreword. The original cover art was by David C. Sutherland III , and interior illustrations were provided by Sutherland, D. A. Trampier , Darlene Pekul , Will McLean , David S. LaForce , and Erol Otus . The first edition Dungeon Masters Guide covered the essential game rules for the Dungeon Master : creating and managing both player characters and non-player characters , directing combat, and handling adventures and campaigns that last multiple sessions. The book also included game statistics for magic items and treasure, details how to use random monster encounters, and provides statistics for some of

14700-415: The game by giving "the busy gamer the chance to play D&D once a week as their schedules allow. In the past, D&D games could take months, even years, and players generally had to attend every session so that the story flow wasn't interrupted. With Encounters , players can come and go as they choose and new players can easily be integrated into the story continuity". On January 9, 2012, Wizards of

14847-402: The game had been played by more than 20 million people. As many as six million people played the game in 2007. David M. Ewalt , in his book Of Dice and Men (2013), praised that the game allows for a personal fantastical experience and stated that "even though it's make-believe, the catharsis is real." Dungeon Master%27s Guide The Dungeon Master's Guide is a companion book to

14994-613: The game have been inspired by hundreds of individual works such as A. E. van Vogt's "Black Destroyer", Coeurl (the Displacer Beast ), Lewis Carroll 's " Jabberwocky " ( vorpal sword) and the Book of Genesis (the clerical spell 'Blade Barrier' was inspired by the " flaming sword which turned every way" at the gates of Eden ). Dungeons & Dragons has gone through several revisions. Parallel versions and inconsistent naming practices can make it difficult to distinguish between

15141-564: The game's biggest sales year yet". The game has been supplemented by many premade adventures , as well as commercial campaign settings suitable for use by regular gaming groups. D&D is known beyond the game itself for other D&D -branded products , references in popular culture , and some of the controversies that have surrounded it , particularly a moral panic in the 1980s that attempted to associate it with Satanism and suicide. The game has won multiple awards and has been translated into many languages. Dungeons & Dragons

15288-415: The hood of how the system works and building up your campaign. The book won the 2015 ENnie "Best Supplement" Gold award and the 2015 Origins "Best Role-Playing Game Supplement" and "Fan Favorite" awards. Henry Glasheen, for SLUG Magazine , wrote "Fifth Edition, to my eyes, is the new gold standard for D20-based tabletop RPGs. It strips away the tedium of systems and statistics and replaces them with

15435-430: The interiors." Horvath concluded, " Planescape often feels built for something besides conflict — the art, the philosophy, and the infinite reaches encourage exploration in a way few other D&D settings do: Characters are encouraged to just walk off into the multiverse until they find something to wonder at." The Planescape Campaign Setting boxed set won the 1994 Origins Award for Best Graphic Presentation of

15582-493: The last handful of public playtests, it appears that Dungeons & Dragons is gearing up for some sort of multiversal book in the near future. Whether this is a true Planescape re-launch or just a book that uses the D&;D cosmology remains to be seen". A three-volume box set titled Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse was released in October 2023 for 5th Edition. Pyramid magazine reviewer Scott Haring said Planescape

15729-440: The launch of Dungeons & Dragons' s 3rd Edition , Wizards of the Coast made the d20 System available under the Open Game License (OGL) and d20 System trademark license . Under these licenses, authors were free to use the d20 System when writing games and game supplements. The OGL has allowed a wide range of unofficial commercial derivative work based on the mechanics of Dungeons and Dragons to be produced since 2000; it

15876-475: The like, as well as the convention of diverse adventurers forming a group, draw comparisons to these works. The resemblance was even closer before the threat of copyright action from Tolkien Enterprises prompted the name changes of hobbit to 'halfling', ent to ' treant ', and balrog to ' balor '. For many years, Gygax played down the influence of Tolkien on the development of the game. However, in an interview in 2000, he acknowledged that Tolkien's work had

16023-527: The list of "Top 10 'Orange Spine' AD&D Hardcovers By Jeff Easley, saying "Not taking anything away from EVERYTHING THAT THE DM IS and how well Jeff represents it here, but I still believe when many folks think about an 'orange spine', they are going to remember #1 first, because at the end of the day, this [is] a re-cover, and half the folks out there are going to be about the Sutherland III edition." In his 2023 book Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in

16170-555: The majority of spending is by Dungeon Masters who are only roughly 20% of the player base. Williams commented that the increased investment in digital will "unlock the type of recurrent spending you see in digital games". At the July 2024 Hasbro investor meeting, Cocks stated "that digital revenue on D&D Beyond 'accounts for over half' of" the total earnings from Dungeons & Dragons . Carter, now for Rascal , commented that "we know physical books sell poorly, and even if pre-orders for

16317-452: The many premade adventures (also known as "modules") that have been published throughout the history of Dungeons & Dragons . Published adventures typically include a background story, illustrations, maps, and goals for players to achieve. Some may include location descriptions and handouts, although they are not required for gameplay. Although a small adventure entitled " Temple of the Frog "

16464-415: The market leader in the role-playing game industry. In 1977, the game was split into two branches: the relatively rules-light game system of basic Dungeons & Dragons , and the more structured, rules-heavy game system of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (abbreviated as AD&D ). AD&D 2nd Edition was published in 1989. In 2000, a new system was released as D&D 3rd edition, continuing

16611-465: The mechanics. An accompanying Expert Set , originally written by David "Zeb" Cook , allows players to continue using the simpler ruleset beyond the early levels of play. In 1983, revisions of those sets by Frank Mentzer were released, revising the presentation of the rules to a more tutorial format. These were followed by Companion (1983), Master (1985), and Immortals (1986) sets. Each set covers game play for more powerful characters than

16758-578: The most frequently used tables printed on them for easy reference. The 1979 second edition of the screen describes its purpose as "useful for shielding maps and other game materials from the players when placed upright, and also provide[s] instant reference to the charts and tables most commonly used during play." The Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Second Edition screen came packaged with a brief adventure ; later editions of that screen, and screens produced for later editions, have instead included character sheets and general reference booklets . A feature of

16905-591: The official Dungeons & Dragons Twitch and YouTube channels. In 2020, Wizards of the Coast announced that Dungeons & Dragons had its 6th annual year of growth in 2019 with a "300 percent increase in sales of their introductory box sets , as well as a 65% increase on sales in Europe, a rate which has more than quadrupled since 2014". In terms of player demographics in 2019, 39% of identified as female and 61% identified as male. 40% of players are considered Gen Z (24 years old or younger), 34% of players are in

17052-399: The original Manual of the Planes had in a sense been "reincarnated as the Planescape setting ... TSR's most ambitious campaign world to date. Abandoning the straightforward but dry approach of the Manual , the Planescape set reads less like a textbook and more like a story. Characters take precedence over game systems, high adventure supplants the physics lessons". Curtis D. Carbonell, in

17199-407: The other hand, beginning characters are without exception dull, virtually powerless, and so fragile" which was not encouraging for "newcomers." He also called the magic system "stupid" feeling that many of the spells were "redundant" and "the effects of the majority are hopelessly vague." He found essential elements such as saving throws, hit points, and experience points "undefined or poorly explained;

17346-469: The planes too difficult or complex, so he ignored anything that made gameplay more complicated, which left the "descriptions of twisted and strange creations". Cook conceived of the look for the setting from images such as "the gloomy prisons of Piranesi 's Le Carceri etchings, and Brian Froud 's illustrations and surrealist art", and Dana Knutson was assigned to draw whatever Cook wanted to see. According to Cook, "before any of us knew it, [Knutson] drew

17493-434: The players often seek in a dungeon. Magic items are generally found in treasure hoards, or recovered from fallen opponents; sometimes, a powerful or important magic item is the object of a quest. The game's extensive rules – which cover diverse subjects such as social interactions, magic use , combat, and the effect of the environment on PCs  – help the DM to make these decisions. The DM may choose to deviate from

17640-477: The previous. The first four sets were compiled in 1991 as a single hardcover book, the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia , which was released alongside a new introductory boxed set . Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition was published in 1989, again as three core rulebooks; the primary designer was David "Zeb" Cook. The Monster Manual was replaced by the Monstrous Compendium ,

17787-401: The process, player characters earn experience points (XP) to level up, and become increasingly powerful over a series of separate gaming sessions. Players choose a class when they create their character, which gives them special perks and abilities every few levels. The early success of D&D led to a proliferation of similar game systems. Despite the competition, D&D has remained

17934-436: The published rules or make up new ones if they feel it is necessary. The most recent versions of the game's rules are detailed in three Fifth Edition core rulebooks : The Player's Handbook , the Dungeon Master's Guide and the Monster Manual . The only items required to play the game are the rulebooks, a character sheet for each player, and a number of polyhedral dice . Many players also use miniature figures on

18081-491: The ratio of substance to "holes" compares unfavorably with the head of a tennis racquet." He also noted the rules were "presented in the most illiterate display of poor grammar, misspellings, and typographical errors in professional wargaming." Despite all these issues, Freeman concluded, "As it was given birth, it is fascinating but misshapen; in its best incarnations, it's perhaps the most exciting and attractive specimen alive." The game had more than three million players around

18228-409: The settings in which these interactions occur, and the outcomes of those encounters based on the players' choices and actions. Encounters often take the form of battles with " monsters " – a generic term used in D&D to describe potentially hostile beings such as animals, aberrant beings, or mythical creatures. In addition to jewels and gold coins, magic items form part of the treasure that

18375-470: The size of the book, "I would say that only the most severe critic could point at a minor omission, let alone a serious one." Scott Taylor for Black Gate in 2014 listed both the 1st edition AD&D DMG re-cover and the 2nd Edition AD&D DMG both by Jeff Easley as #10 in The Top 10 TSR Cover Paintings of All Time. Scott Taylor of Black Gate listed the Dungeon Master's Guide as #2 on

18522-459: The spell-using classes by adding abilities that could be used at will, per encounter, or per day. Likewise, non-magic-using classes were provided with parallel sets of options. Software tools, including player character and monster-building programs, became a major part of the game. This edition added the D&;D Encounters program; a weekly event held at local stores designed to draw players back to

18669-461: The staggered release schedule, Jeremy Crawford wrote "our small team couldn’t finish the books at the same time and also ensure their high quality. [...] We could either stagger their releases, or we could sit on the books until all three were finished". Crawford and Mike Mearls co-lead design for the Fifth Edition of Dungeons & Dragons . Polygon reported that the book "is by far

18816-504: The story gave credit to his then wife Mary Jo. Many Dungeons & Dragons elements appear in hobbies of the mid-to-late 20th century. For example, character-based role-playing can be seen in improvisational theater . Game-world simulations were well developed in wargaming. Fantasy milieux specifically designed for gaming could be seen in Glorantha 's board games, among others. Ultimately, however, Dungeons & Dragons represents

18963-420: The success of the group as a whole. During the course of play, each player directs the actions of their character and their interactions with other characters in the game. This activity is performed through the verbal impersonation of the characters by the players, while employing a variety of social and other useful cognitive skills, such as logic, basic mathematics, and imagination. A game often continues over

19110-412: The task. In circumstances where a character is attempting to avoid a negative outcome, such as when dodging a trap or resisting the effect of a spell, a saving throw can be used to determine whether the resulting effect is reduced or avoided. In this case the odds of success are influenced by the character's class, levels and ability scores. In circumstances where a character is attempting to complete

19257-549: The time we need to get this right." The release of the 5th Edition, coinciding with D&D ' s 40th anniversary, occurred in the second half of 2014. Since the release of 5th edition, dozens of Dungeons & Dragons books have been published including new rulebooks, campaign guides and adventure modules . 2017 had "the most number of players in its history—12 million to 15 million in North America alone". Mary Pilon, for Bloomberg , reported that sales of 5th edition Dungeon & Dragons "were up 41 percent in 2017 from

19404-511: The true substance of role playing—deep, immersive stories. I’ve often found that the Dungeon Master’s Guide was the most vestigial of all the D&D manuals, but Fifth Edition has elevated this previously tertiary book into something far more important and useful". Jonathan Bolding, for Escapist Magazine , wrote "however, on finishing the book it's clear that while many critics - myself included - thought that this system would hinge on

19551-775: The use of miniatures in a fashion similar to its direct precursors. The original D&D set of 1974 required the use of the Chainmail miniatures game for combat resolution. By the publication of the 1977 game editions, combat was mostly resolved verbally. Thus, miniatures were no longer required for gameplay, although some players continued to use them as a visual reference. In the 1970s, numerous companies began to sell miniature figures specifically for Dungeons & Dragons and similar games. Licensed miniature manufacturers who produced official figures include Grenadier Miniatures (1980–1983), Citadel Miniatures (1984–1986), Ral Partha , and TSR itself. Most of these miniatures used

19698-527: The words 'demon' and 'devil' and explainable to Marketing in 25 words or less". For inspiration, Cook listened to Pere Ubu , Philip Glass and Alexander Nevsky , read The Dictionary of the Khazars , Einstein's Dreams , and The Narrow Road to the Deep North , and for fun at "Bad Movie Nights", watched such films as Naked Lunch and Wolf Devil Woman . Cook came up with the idea that all of

19845-458: The world by 1981, and copies of the rules were selling at a rate of about 750,000 per year by 1984. Beginning with a French language edition in 1982, Dungeons & Dragons has been translated into many languages beyond the original English. By 1992, the game had been translated into 14 languages and sold over 2 million copies in 44 countries worldwide. By 2004, consumers had spent more than $ 1 billion on Dungeons & Dragons products and

19992-532: The year before, and soared another 52 percent in 2018, the game's biggest sales year yet. [...] In 2017, 9 million people watched others play D&D on Twitch , immersing themselves in the world of the game without ever having to pick up a die or cast a spell". In 2018, Wizards of the Coast organized a massive live-stream event, the Stream of Many Eyes, where ten live-streamed sessions of Dungeons & Dragons were performed on Twitch over three days. This event won

20139-666: Was derived from the novel Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson . A troll described in this work influenced the D&D definition of that monster. The Labyrinth of the Greek myth of the Minotaur has been seen as an inspiration for the game's use of dungeons as monster lairs. Other influences include the works of Robert E. Howard , Edgar Rice Burroughs , A. Merritt , H. P. Lovecraft , Fritz Leiber , L. Sprague de Camp , Fletcher Pratt , Roger Zelazny , and Michael Moorcock . Monsters, spells, and magic items used in

20286-401: Was designed by David "Zeb" Cook , with cover art by Jeff Easley . The book featured interior illustrations by Easley, Clyde Caldwell , John and Laura Lakey , David Dorman , Douglas Chaffee , and Jean E. Martin. This Dungeon Master's Guide featured revised second edition rules, reorganized and streamlined for the Dungeon Master. The book detailed options for character creation, handling

20433-1064: Was included in the Blackmoor rules supplement in 1975, the first stand-alone D&D module published by TSR was 1978's Steading of the Hill Giant Chief , written by Gygax. A linked series of adventures is commonly referred to as a " campaign ". The locations where these adventures occur, such as a city, country, planet, or entire fictional universe , are referred to as " campaign settings " or "worlds." D&D settings are based in various fantasy genres and feature different levels and types of magic and technology. Popular commercially published campaign settings for Dungeons & Dragons include Greyhawk , Dragonlance , Forgotten Realms , Mystara , Spelljammer , Ravenloft , Dark Sun , Planescape , Birthright , and Eberron . In addition to first-party campaigns and modules, two campaigns based on popular culture have been created. The first, based on Stranger Things ,

20580-486: Was intended to provide Dungeon Masters all the information and rules necessary to run a campaign for the D&D game. The 1983 printing featured a new cover by Jeff Easley . Like other volumes of Dungeons & Dragons handbooks, the Dungeon Masters Guide has gone through several versions through the years. The original edition was written by Gary Gygax and edited by Mike Carr , who also wrote

20727-486: Was not included in subsequent editions of the Dungeon Master's Guide but made a re-appearance in the fifth edition Dungeon Master's Guide . In 1999, a paperback reprint of the first edition was released. The first edition Dungeon Masters Guide was reproduced as a premium reprint on July 17, 2012. The original Dungeon Masters Guide was reviewed by Don Turnbull in issue #16 of the magazine White Dwarf (December 1979/January 1980). Turnbull commented mostly on

20874-428: Was one big change as a result of Faction War (1998). The factions that caused much of the conflict in Planescape are now gone. [...] The Dungeon Master's Guide 2 also contains 'A Conspiracy of Doors', the first Sigil adventure to see print in many years". The 5th Edition Player's Handbook (2014) also contains a section explaining the planes and briefly mentions Sigil. There is also some information on Sigil in

21021-479: Was published, which brought together the various published rules, options and corrections, then expanded them into a definitive, unified game for hobbyist gamers. TSR marketed them as an introductory game for new players and a more complex game for experienced ones; the Basic Set directed players who exhausted the possibilities of that game to switch to the advanced rules. As a result of this parallel development,

21168-403: Was released as a revision of the 3rd Edition rules. This release incorporated hundreds of rule changes, mostly minor, and expanded the core rulebooks. In early 2005, Wizards of the Coast's R&D team started to develop Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition, prompted mainly by the feedback obtained from the D&D playing community and a desire to make the game faster, more intuitive, and with

21315-509: Was released in May 2019. A campaign based on the Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons and Dragons comic book series was later released in November 2019. Alternatively, DMs may develop their own fictional worlds to use as campaign settings, either planning the adventure ahead or expanding on it as the players progress. The wargames from which Dungeons & Dragons evolved used miniature figures to represent combatants. D&D initially continued

21462-658: Was reported speculation that Wizards was planning on discontinuing the OGL for Dungeons & Dragons based on unconfirmed leaks. In response to the speculation, Wizards stated in November 2022: "We will continue to support the thousands of creators making third-party D&D content with the release of One D&D in 2024." Limited details on the update to the OGL, including the addition of revenue reporting and required royalties, were released by Wizards in December 2022. Linda Codega, for Io9 in January 2023, reported on

21609-451: Was revised for the 3.5 edition. David Noonan and Rich Redman are credited for the Dungeon Master's Guide 3.5 revision. Cover art is by Henry Higginbotham , with interior art by Matt Cavotta , Ed Cox , Lars Grant-West , Scott Fischer , John Foster , Jeremy Jarvis , John and Laura Lakey , Todd Lockwood , David Martin , Raven Mimura , Wayne Reynolds , Scott Roller , Brian Snoddy , Arnie Swekel , and Sam Wood . When asked about

#521478